Chapter 1

In a rented house in the suburbs of the city, a man in his late teens leaned tightly against the door, his face pale and covered in cold sweat. His slightly rapid breathing and thunderous heartbeat revealed his current tension and fear.

Less than ten minutes ago, Chen Mo, who had just finished his night shift, had walked into a small alley and saw a man in his forties rushing over from the other end. Under the dim yellow streetlights, he saw that the man was covered in blood and was holding a three-foot-long sword. Chen Mo was so frightened that he dodged to the side, but the man did nothing, only pausing briefly beside him before running towards the main street.

Chen Mo secretly peeked out of the alley and saw three men in black clothes and hats, wielding Japanese samurai swords, surrounding the middle-aged man. After a dazzling fight, the man killed two of them but was stabbed in the heart by the last one and died.

The last black-clothed man searched the middle-aged man's body for a while, seemingly looking for something, but found nothing. After the sound of police sirens grew louder, the man retreated into the darkness and disappeared.

Chen Mo was just an ordinary worker who had dropped out of high school and come from another province to Shangdu. He usually worked on a construction site near his rented house and washed dishes at a nearby restaurant in the evenings to earn extra income. He had never seen such a bloody scene before. After running home in a flash, his legs were still trembling uncontrollably.

Growing up watching traditional Chinese TV, Chen Mo could recognize that the middle-aged man had used traditional Chinese martial arts, while the black-clothed men had used Japanese sword techniques. What he didn't understand was why such terrifying battles involving martial artists still occurred in modern society, and why they involved the Japanese.

"My God, this is terrifying. Those Japanese are so bold. Should I go to the police station and tell the police about this?" Chen Mo's mood slightly eased as he dragged his still sore legs to the bed and sat down, saying.

He reached into his inner pocket, ready to take out his phone and call the police. When he touched his phone, he felt something extra in his pocket. He quickly took it out and saw a rectangular piece of black jade about an inch long, intricately carved with the scene of Pangu splitting the heavens and the earth. On the back of the jade were three ancient seal script characters, which he couldn't recognize after a long time.

Chen Mo guessed that this piece of black jade had been placed in his pocket by the middle-aged man when they passed each other, and it might be what the Japanese were looking for.

Thinking about this, Chen Mo quickly opened his laptop and connected to the landlord's Wi-Fi to search for comparisons between seal script and simplified Chinese characters. After more than half an hour, he finally figured out the three characters on the jade.

"Wujie Gate, what does this mean?" Chen Mo held the jade and muttered, shining a flashlight on it.

Even if the jade was worth millions as an antique, it wouldn't be worth fighting to the death over. Putting down the jade, Chen Mo picked up his water cup and took a few sips. He picked up his phone again, and just as his fingers were about to dial the first two numbers, someone knocked on the door.

Still nervous, Chen Mo's hand trembled, and the water cup fell to the ground. He tried to catch it, but it shattered, and a piece of glass cut a centimeter-long wound on his index finger.

"Who is it?" Chen Mo covered the jade with his phone and asked in a low voice.

"Chen Mo, remember to pay the rent the day after tomorrow, six months for eight thousand." A woman with a hoarse voice stood outside the door and shouted.

Chen Mo hurried to the door and opened it, looking at the middle-aged woman with a waist thicker than a water bucket, arms as thick as his thighs, and a fleshy face that trembled when she spoke, he asked urgently:

"Sister Xianxian, wasn't the rent six thousand for six months? Why has it increased?"

He had come to Shangdu to earn money, to build a house and start a family back home. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to work from dawn to dusk on the construction site and in the restaurant. Previously, he shared the rented house with two friends, and he didn't feel the rent was too high. But last week, his two friends went back home to get married, and now he had to pay the full rent alone. With a monthly salary of only four to five thousand, the increase in rent made him both physically and mentally pained.

The landlord, a woman named Xianxian, who looked deformed but had a fitting name, glared at him and said:

"Chen Mo, the rent is now this price. If you don't want to rent, you can move out in a week. The rent for other places is fifteen hundred a month. As an old tenant, I'm giving you a discount of a thousand for six months. You can find someone to share the rent with, as long as they're not troublemakers, my husband and I won't interfere."

Chen Mo could only remain silent. To be honest, the rent in Shangdu was really expensive, and it was rare to find a rented house so close to the city at a reasonable price. He bit his lip and nodded, saying:

"Alright, I'll pay the rent in three days, but I'll find two people to share the rent."

"Fine, rest well. Just remember to pay me the money when the time comes." The fat Xianxian nodded and said.

Watching the landlord leave, Chen Mo looked at his injured finger in frustration. He closed the door and remembered that he was about to call the police. He walked to his computer desk, moved the phone, and picked up the jade.

"Ouch."

Chen Mo suddenly cried out in pain. The jade was now crazily sucking blood from his index finger. He tried to throw it away, but it seemed to be stuck to his hand. Just as he was about to shout, he felt dizzy and disappeared from beside the computer desk.

A massive gate, black as ink but gleaming with cold light, appeared before him. The carvings on it were the same as those on the black jade, depicting the scene of Pangu splitting the heavens and the earth with unparalleled majesty.

Chen Mo stood dumbfounded before the massive gate, blinking curiously at the sudden appearance. He gently touched it, and the seemingly majestic gate slowly opened. Behind the gate was a vast gray ground and a deep blue sky.

Chen Mo, whose fear had diminished, slowly walked through the gate. It took him ten minutes to pass through the gate's lintel. He looked up and muttered softly:

"Is this the Wujie Gate from the black jade?"

As Chen Mo's voice echoed in the vast, empty space within the gate, a golden sun suddenly appeared in the sky, illuminating the ground in a golden glow. A majestic and authoritative voice then came from the golden sun:

"Heavenly Chosen One, by entering the Wujie Gate, you will gain supreme glory and powerful strength. For your unparalleled glory, follow the path of the martial artist and become the supreme master."

Chen Mo was so frightened by the voice that he almost collapsed. He looked at the golden sun, which was not blinding, and shouted loudly:

"What is a Heavenly Chosen One? Who are you?"